The Sun. — London, England, 1809-05-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL. PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF PEERS. MONDAY, MAY 15. In the Committee of Privileges on the Borthwick • Peerage, some evidence was heard, and the further proceeding was postponed till Thursday. In the appeal " Frank v. Frank," Mr. Horner was heard for the Appellant, and Mr. Alexander for the Respondent. Further hearing ,on Wednes day.. Tice Chancery Bill and some Private Bills were brought up from the Commons by Mr. Wilson, Mr. Alderman Shaw, Pelham, Mr. Robert Shaw, Lord Althorpe, and other Members, and read a first time. The Militia Completion Bill, •the 6,000,0001. Ex chequer' "Bills Bill, and the Newspaper Bill were read a third time and passed. The Scots Local Militia Bill was read a second time, and committed for to-morrow. • The Marquis of STAFFORD presented Petitions signed by near 4000 tespeetable Inhabitants and . Land Owners in the Towns of Manchester and Sal ford, and also from two of the principal Fire Offices • in London; in favour of the Manchester WaterWurks Bill. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. On the Order of the Day being read for the second reading of the Bill for preventing malicious and wan ton cruelty to animals, Lord ERSKINE stated his reasons for presenting this Bill to the House, and very eloquently orged the necessity of passing some law for the'preve,ntion of that brutal creelty.towards animals, the.instances of which were unfortunately too frequent. It could not be too forcibly inspresSed upon the minds of all men, and'he was particularly desirous of inculcating the principle in tht preamble to this Bill, that the use of animals was a moral trust committed. to us, which it was incumbent upon us to execute with feeling and humanity.. The whole lower world was given to our care for, our use, not for our abuse, for • bur rational pleasure and satisfaaion, not for the ex ercise of cruelty and inhumanity. He would not enter into a disgusting detail of cruelties committed up o n animals, the instances were almost innumera tee, and particularly amongst the basest and most worthless of mankind, whom only the fear of pu nishment could deter from the commission of such atrocity. As the law now stood, a man could only be punished for cruelty towards an animal Where there was malice against the owner; his objea in this Bill was to protect the animals themselves front inhumanity on the part of their owners, as wall as Other persons. Since he had. given notice of this measure, he had received a great number of commu nications, many of them from highly respeaable Magistrates in different parts of the country, relative to a variety of ads of cruelty committed towards animals, which still further proved the necessity of some Bill of this description. His Lordship referred ,particularly to the praOice of several dealers in horse flesh, who bought horses past their labour, and kept them without lood for several days, until they were ' wanted to be cut up, and in several instances had •adually let them starve to death, whilst the'poor creatures, impelled by hunger, had actually gnawed each others flesh. Another great abuse was the keeping of cattle impounded without food for several days. pi l w r instances of inhumanity towards horses Were to he found in these extravagant wagers for races against time, which had been of late very fre quent. He did not allude to the noble sport of horse racing, vehich the animals liked as much as their Owners, but to the inhuman pt'attice of urging a horse on beyond its powers, for the mettsobjeta of doing so; for the (Neel. of the wagers in these races against time, was to make horse perform what it wad beyond the ordinary 'power of a horse to do. It was to prevent !brae and a variety of other acts of inhu manity ek ieced in the overloading and overdriving, and torturing of aniniak that he had brought in this Bill. It would not prevent the proper use of ani mals, 'or their necessaray deoruttion for the food of man ; it would not prevent the rendering them sub servient to the satisiaetion arising from the use of them, or the 'gratification of curiosity for which they might he kept, bUt ,it would tend to check wanton inhumanity and barbarity. There was no thing in this Bill that could tend to raise any new of law, or give any dangerous discretion t o Magistrates ; and it would be as easy under this Bill to, 4scertaip whether any malicious or wanton cruelty had been committed, as it was at present with respect to cruelty, towards apprentices, or hot supplying Item with suffiCient food, or with respea to the nature of assaults or nuisances, or other ques tions that daily came before Courts, and were con stantly decided on by Juries. He trusted th,erefOre that their Lordships would agree with him in the necr:4'sity of adopiing the principle of this Bill, and whatever' alterations might he necessary, would be for the core;ideration of the COMIII:Me. • • "'Vile Lotter CHANcEEviIt had no obiE6UOll to the principle . part of the Biti, but thonght . that some pa r ts ufit wonid require consideration In the Com mittee, and hepterbisato pay every attention to it. The I3ifl was read a second time, and committed for the second day after the recess...Adjourued till to-morrow (thiS day). 110US4 OF CWIIMONS. • MONDAY, MAY 15. On the motion of the LORD ADVOCATE: of. SCOT iStio; the 'Scotch •Militia Vamilies' • Prevision Bill went through - a Committee. 'The Report was re , eeived, and . ordered to be taken; into further con• sidoration on Thursday. • • • . • •The. Custbms Jurisdiftipp Bill went through a es'ornroittee. • --The Report to be received to-Moe-roWr. ' Uti the •tnotion *f Mr, FosTart, the Irish Glebe flOrize , Aeta were ordered to be referred' to a Gout Mittee of the - Whole Hottie'to-morrow. A. dismission of some length loOlt place, on the ormltion 'of Mr. P. MoottE; for the recommittal of tht Pighsate..4 . rehtvay Bill, upon which. the House and- there rippeared, • - • • • • • /For its cthrtmittal . ping it - 211 Majority 744sgage from the TAirclo announcg4 their '..TAT:th-,111761 assent to several. public and many . privilt4 - }l,itt i ,---(eick Keport 94. the House ofLords). _ • . . 1 Mr. ',ll ut - rriav,A,p, comequimee of ins -tprrper notice, rose to make a motion on a subjett of no great importance in one point of yiew, but of some weight in another; be alluded to the appointment of Stotekeeper to the Royal Military Depot in Hyde Park, This Gentle Man, though very respeCtable, was a foreigner, and Wad never been in the army, and he thought the post, which was worth 1201. 11 - year, might be better tilled by some old invalid Officer. Though he approved of a return being made by per sons of high rank to their faithful followers for their services, yet he could not think it proper to give them public appointments as a reward, as had been done in this case by the Master-General of the Ord nance. He concluded by moving for a return of the appointment of Christian Frederick Waitron to the office of Storekeeper, eie. account of his salary, .ser vices, &c.- Mr. W. POLE took upon himself the whole blame of this appointment, if any attached to it. Upon Lord Chatham's applying to him , to recommend a person for. this office When the Depot was formed, Ore had named this person, who was a Hanoverian, had been 37 years in this country, and known to him twenty years. The responsibility was there fore solely his, and he never thought the office of a description which would have been acceptable to any officer. He had no objection to the produelion of the papers. , After a few ,words 'in explanation from Mr. WOITEREAD, the motion was agreed to. Mr. FOSTER brought in a 13111 to appoint Commis sioners to examine into the state of the Bogs in Ire land, which was read a first time. On the motion for the second reading, Mr. Frrz- GERALD and Sir J. NEWPORT opposed the Bill 24 a job. Mr. FOSTER and the CHANCELLOR of the Ex- CHEQUER made a few remarks in support of it, and the Bill was ordered to be read a second time on Thursday. The CHANCELLOR of the Excnniatna moved, that the House should resolve into a Committee to consider of the better Regulation of the Excise- Office in point of hours of attendance, and the su• perannuation of officers on the same plan as in the Custom-House. After a question from Mr. PONSONBY respeaing the nature of the superannuation, and an explana tion from Mr. Hu - sxtssom, the Speaker put the question for going into the said Committee imme diately, which was agteed to. Mr. WHITBREAD asked when the Stamp-Office Returns were to be laid before the House. Td which Mr. HUSKISSON replied, " as soon as they could be received from Edinburgh." Mr. WaAarroN having reported the Resolutions of the Committee, leave was giVen to bring in a Bill pursuant thereto. Mr, ROSE obtained leave to bring in Bills for amending several Ads, and introducing better re gulations in the payment of Seamens' Wages and `prize-money, and Improvement of the Royal Hos pital at Greenwich. On the motion of Mr. H. THORNTON, the Order of the Day •.for the House going into a Committee on the Third Report of the Committee of Public Offices was postponed till Friday. The reason as signed was the indisposition of Mr. Martin.' Mr. WHARTON brought up the Reports of the Committees of Supply and Ways and Means. After a few observations from Mr. TIERNEY, which were replied to by Mr. Huskisson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Resolutions were put and agreed to. SALE OF OFFICES. On the taking into further consideration the Re port of the Committee on the Bill for Preventing the Sale of Offices, after a few words from the 'Chancellor of the Exchequer, PONSONDY stated some objections, as he thought the Bill bore hard on the Law Officers of Ireland. • The CkIitaCELLOR of the ExcHeQuER said, h e should be happy' if the Hon. Gentleman would fur nish a Clause to obviate such an evil. Knowing as he did, more of the inconveniences he complained of than he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) did, he might be better able to suggest iprovision against them. Sir Joni; NewrotlT made a few observations. Lord FoLLsTONE said, the Bill in its present state was perfectly nugatory. He had formerly had it in contemplation to introduce a clause into it, but on its being pointed out to him that the clause he thought of bringing forward would countenance the comitauation in place of a person who had prochred his appointment by corrupt means, in consideration of his having afterwards even information against others, he had not submitted it to the Committee Ile was of opinion, that it would be proper to hold out some inducement to persons-thus situated to in fo'rin againit othe'rs concerned in such corrupt prac tices, that some of the offenders Might be punished. cry of move, move ! from the Opposition.)— The Noble Loi . d concluded, expressing an inclina tion to make a motion to that effea.. The CHANC.M.LOR of the EXCHEQUER wished the Bill to be made as effeetual as possible. He had no objection to give the Noble- Lord - every opportunity to improve it by the introduction of a new 'clause, and he would therefore move that it.should be re; c oinbi i t ted • • '11)&1E11 was then ordered to be re-committed, and the House resolved itself into a Committee. Lord FoLKsToNB then moved', "that for every such offence - the : party should be liable to, forfeit and liay, the Sum of 6001. 'whiCh sum should be given to the informer the 'conviOed offender be. ing punished by fine and imprisonment, or by the, one or the'other, as the Judges ShOuld direct." • • The CHANCELLOR of the .k.otthiscitta said, as he understood the Noble Lord intended to bring forvdard another clause, he wished to hear that, that kriowi. ing the substance of both,' he might be able core correotly to judge of the measure suggested, Lord FoLksTose, in rePly, stated it to be some what on theisathe principle as the clause which he had' formerly' been indticed : to Suppress—namely, the exonerating frOrn punishment- those who in fOrtned; for having participated in the offence : though he'iFould have the party diiiabled from hold- Inga.situation obtained thkough such improper - and Unconstitutional influence: The QUANcELLoa 'of the ExcHEQuett did not think the Commitree'-uould go 'to the lengthlif the Noble Lord's 'proposal.. Were there no other ways o f g , nioing information of such praotices; it might be expedient to resort to' - the mokle he !tad pointed out. ,Brat itt the pment . suitti of thinir,, he tlici nog think it proper to hold out such a temptation to false evidence, er to obtain true in formation by such means, .and under such circumstances, possessing, as they did, other . means of obtaining information, it was unnecessary. .The temptation held out to false in formation, by adopting such a measure, he thought extremely dangerous, as the artifices of an infamous scoundrel might procure him 5001. in some in stances, where the pro Vision that the informer should lose his place could do him no injury, which sum his benefaaor, though far less culpable, might be compelled to pay. Mr. TIERNEY thought the objeetion of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer not a very strong one. if the benefalor of an infamous scoundrel were liable thus to be punished, what argument was it against the clause ? He ought to have had nothing to do in such an affair. Lord FoLxs-roste observed, the Chancellor of the' Exchequer had said it was unnecessary to resort to such an expedient to obtain information, as sufficient information could be derived from other source's. This he denied, without the evi dence of some one concerned, to obtain infor mation was difficult, and perhaps in some inr stances impossible. He never thought the Bill would do much good, but from the view he then had of it in its present state, he thought it might do harm. He thought with the Honourable Gent. that it was but fair that the patron of an infamous scoundrel should suffer for endeavouring to advance such a chartaer to a place of emolument or trust. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER declared his Mind was open to conviaion. The words of the Honourable Gentleman had had some effea on him, and if they coald satisfy him that such a measure would be likely to benefit the country, he would give it his support, The Noble Lord has spoken as'if information thus gained,must be true, but that he thought extremely doubtful. He was,of opinion punishment would freqnently fall where it wa least , deserved. Men might have exerted their influence with others to obtain a situation for scoundrels,,who had got round them, and who might be wholly un known to the person who gave them their situa tions. Yet against that person might they give in formation, though no party in the Corruption. He might have given places to various persons on the recommendation of others, on whom he thought he could rely, since he had been in office, - and a man thus appointed, might, Were such a clause received, accuse him of corruption. Information might- be given of the wrong, and wrong or right the informer would be rewarded. He opposed the clause, be cause he thought it thus objectionable; he was, however, still open to conviaion, as it was his wish to make the Bill as effeaual as possible.. Lord HENRY Parry knew of no information that could be procured from accomplices. which would not be attended with such concomitant evils. however, thought the informer more likely to ac cuse the right than the wrong, tor this plain reason —it was more ekcy to substantiate the tact in the former case than in the latter. He thought with the Noble Lord, that the Bill in its present state was useless. That which it proposed to make a misde meanor was before punishable by law, - but no pro ceedings had ever been instituted against any one.. Why, because no inducements were held out to call : forth witnesses to 'substan tiate the fact and furnish' evidence. After a short conversation between Mr. ROSE and Mr. PoNSoNeY, The ATTORNEY-GENEEAL opposed the clause, on the grounds that punishment might fall where it was least deserved. A and B might be trafficking for a place, which B might obta in for A, throu g h the influence of C, who m i g ht be wholl y i g norant of the traffick between them. B being dead, A might charge C with corruption, though only cul pable in yielding to the solicitations of B, and be stowing an office on a person he thought deserving of such a situation. A might, in tact, be more likely to accuse C than B, however culpable B might have been ; as A and B might be supposed to be friends, while between A and C no conneaion whaiever might have existed. After some further observations from Sir John -General, l er l en of fl theth the N Lo e r w d p A or d t v , o M cat r e . T e i t er st ne e y tian tl d ie , A th t e to c rn h e a s t ; 'Exchequer, the Solicitor-General, Lord Folkstone, Mr. Croker, Mr. Horner, and Mr. Fuller, The House came to a division upon the Amends ment proposed by Lord Folkstone-- Ayes Noes Majority - —43 Strangers having , been re-admitted, the other clauses Ore gone through. The House then resum ed, and the Report was ordered to be received to morrosy. . .. . IRISH DISTILLERY BILL. Mr. Fosne moved the second reading of the Irish Distillery Bill. Mr. BARNARD opposed the further progress of the Bill ; it was framed contrary to the interests of Ire land, and contrary to'the' opinion of the Commis sioners' of Inquiry, who recommended the encou ragernent of small stills as the best means of encou raging legal distilleries and the increase of the re , venues. But contrary to this the object of the B;Il was to increase the penalties; if not to double them there could be' no necessity for this .severity, for in the county of Cavan, in one year, fines to the amount of 20,0001. had been levied, while 6001. only could be collekted; immense sums were.at the same time paid as reward's. He would have wished to postpdne his objetlions to the Bill, till it went into a Committee; but the principle ot it was so bad, that he should Move, " that it be read a second time this'dsy iliree months."' Mr. STEWART approved of the principle ot the Bill, but had obje6tion to same of its clauses: He should therefore vote for its going into the Commit tee, where hii.ohje.6tion might he removed. • k/ „ Pit* enaGE F. Hut. was surprised at the motion of his tion:'Priend for putting otr the second reading of this Bill. Having been, privy to many cenveria. tions'between the distillers and the chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland, lie bore testimony to the at tention, with 'which every suggestion from them was received, and was sure that the fidlest consideration would -be given to' 'atty . ' amendments which Hon. ,Gentlernen might he disposed to propose in the Cora ' Mr. PAIIISTEL;., .suppotted the amendment, and , . 'thotxgllt it right upon princ iple. . Thu • Right Hon. the ChaUcellurofiliti Lxtbequer fo; Ireland ought •itivs; to ibrht ntioptra the recyrnmenitation of ciao Commissioners of Inquiry, or to have proved to tie I House that their recommendation was wreng. Ili i the year 1786, Scotland was similarly circumstanced, as to distilleries, as Ireland is at present. The in- , troduaion of licensed distillation into Scotl and car- ?,. reaed the evil, and consequently the same remedy' '; would be effeaual in Ireland. Mr. FOSTER was equally astonished at the amend- meat, as at the manner in which it had been sup—,„ ported by argument. The Bill was intended to amend the existing laws. These were known to be defeaiye, and ought to be amended. There,was not a clause in the Bill contrary to the recommenda tions of the Commissioners of Inquiry. 'The laws in exitence, though requiring amendment, had raised the Revenue aris;ng from distilleries 'treat 700,0001. to 1,200,0001. and in the half year front . 1 the Ist of January to June last year, when the pro- 1 hibition took place, the Revenue prpduced had amounted to 900,0001. He left the House to judge of the efficacy of laws which could produce iliat ie- .1 crease. The leading, principle of the Bill was ti) encourage small stills, with . a view to create 3 market tor the farmers in every part of the co untry. Illicit distillation could not be put down till the peo ple of Ireland, the gentlemen, and farrners, could be brought to co-operate with the Government.-- He should be happy to attend to any suggestion. a n d the Committee, and trusted that his Hen. FrietN would consent to withdraw his amendmesit. '. A very long discussion then took place beV,lerzl the former Speakers, Sir John Newport, Co lo Barry, Mr. French, Mr. Dennis *owne, Mr . O'Hara, Mr. Huskisson, and Mr. W. Smith, in ' which it appeared to be the prevailing idea that the Bill o ight to go into a Committee.. •. . Mr. BARNARD seeing that the sense of the fiellte was for a Committee, Withdrew his amendment, and the Bill was read a second time and ordero to be committed on Wednesday next. • The Irish Revenue Regulation Bill was read 3 .second time, and ordered to be committed on Wed nesday. ,Mr. Rosa moved the second reading of the Marti- , nique Trade Bill. Mr. AIARRIOTT Objeaed to the Bill as unpre, cedented, and highly prejudicial to the sugar fe' finer;. It was a breach of the national faith,for in the Proclamation which formed the basis of the capitulation, it was distinctly stated, that the planters should be placed in the situation .in which they were before. ' Mr. Rosa defended the Bill, while he allowed that the Sugar Refiners would not be in the swipe state . as that in which they were before the capture of Martinique, he denied that their situatipn would be so materially changed, as stated by the HO' Gentleman. With respe& to the Proclamation, it contained merely general expressions of lcindness; and the 13th Article of the Capitulation left the mat; ter o?en to the option of Government to be decided. upon by them at a future time. Mr. Erving, Lord Castlereagh, and Mr, Hibb 6" supported the. Bill ; Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Baring °I" posed it. The Gallery was then cleared, but we undeist°o . -that -the second:reading ., was agreisd to-without a division., ,_ , . .. ,' , • , Adieurned ati-ialf past One,o'clock this morning, MAILS. Du=—t Gottenburgh, t Malta, t Waterford, PRICE OF STOCKS THU DAY AT TITSLA' R O'CLOCK. Consols ....... 6lli THE SUN. {OLIN QUIZ DMA** !ALAS./LI AUDIAT? L 0 D , TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1809. L'ORIENT SQUADRON. \V are happy to have it in our power to comma°. nicate to our Readers some satisfa6tory respecting L'Orient Squadron. Dispatches have just been received from Admiral COCHRANE, dated April 7th, at which time he wog blockading the French Squadrop that camped from L'Orient, consisting of three Sail of the Line and two Frigates, in the harbour of the Saintes, wO' four Sail of the Line ; and an Expedition '" living out from Martinique and Dominica to take both the Island and the Squadron, of which the most sanguine hopes were entertained. The French garrison of Martinique were accord" ing to the terms of the Capitulation, carried aFreoc Port (Quiberon) but as the French Governmelit would not receive them, agreeable to the stipulatioil, entered into, viz. to be exchanged man for Of' , and officer for officer, according to their rank, 0 6 • whole Garrison have been brought to England, all 4 arrived yesterday evening at Portsmouth. was, to D ecre informe on SupSupremeCentral Junta of Sevilla ig:ued Royal t t h h e e i p s ee th pl u e lt e . f th s e p p e u in rpd th rt at ar th ,: u hi ni ci : v Stances might render it necessary :or themTto-remevt' the seat of Goveinment, in order to frustrate the de signs.of the Enemy, who man ifested a d es ign of get° Ling the head of Government , if possible, into 10 poWer, thereby. to dissolve the Government alt°' getber, and conieouently to reduce the nation t° uncertainty and • corifusion. The Junta declare, -however, that nothing but imper ious necessity 0811 induce them to remeve, and that, whateve r the acchlents of war might be , th e y will never uhand.on the Continent of Spain While t he y ca n '. find a p l a ce to This remain in lfOr the defence o f the Country. oval Decree had excited some ala rm, but as no rem